Method for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes.



APPLICATION FILED DEC-25. I912.

Patented May 4, 1915.

l WT/VESSES.

UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

PEARL J. WENTWORTH, 0F BOSTON, MKSSACHUSE'ITS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1915.

Original application filed December 29, 1810, Serial No. 599,908. Divided and this application filed. December 26, 1912. Serial No. 738,707.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PEARL J. WnN'rwon'rn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Methods for Use in the Man ufacture of Boots and Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings in dicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to methods of making boots and shoes, and especially to the operations of lasting welt shoes and sewing the welt and upper to the lip of the innersole, and this application is a division of my co pending application for improvements in apparatus for use in the manufacture of Boots and Shoes, Serial Number 599,908, filed Dec. 29, 1910.

More particularly, this invention conteniplates, as its principal feature, a method of manipulating portions of the upper materials at the heel seat and adjacent thereto, whereby the welt sewing operation is accomplished in an accurate and effective manner with the result of securing a better product than has been obtained by methods hereto fore employed.

In making welt shoes the upper materials including the heel stiffener are lasted over the heel seat end of the innersole and permanently tacked down nearly, but not uite, as far forward as the breast of the eel. From this point forwardly on each side to the toe the upper materialsfincluding the end portions of the" heel stiffener, should be lasted up against the lip or rib of the innersole where they are secured by temporary or primary fastenings. Thereafter the shoe is subjected to the operation of the Welter ,or welt sewing machine by which, simultaneously with the attachment of thewelt, the upper materials are permanentlyseweokto the lip or rib of the mnersole. The outersole is then sewed to the welt around the sides and toe and nailed to the innersole at the heel seat,.the ends of the welt being beveled off and fastened down between the outersole and the innersole.

It is important to the shape and appearance of the shoe that the welt ends be sym' metrically located on the two sides of the shoe and uniformly on all shoes of a size and style, and to this and other ends it is desirable that the welt sewing machine operator start and end his seam symmetrically and uniformly. It is alsoboth desirable and important that he be enabled to sew close to the end tacks that have been driven in the heel seat during the lasting operation and that he be able to do this without disturbing those tacks. As a matter of fact it has heretofore been next to impossible to insert the channel guide of the sewing machine in position to begin the seam close to the end tack on one side or to retain it in position to sew close to the end tack on the other side because of the flange of the heel stiffener which is held down fiat by the heel seat tacks, and must be bent up at its ends against the lip or rib of the innersole for sewing. These ends obsti nately resist bending into an upright position, with the result that it is impossible to sew as closely as desired to the end tacks of the stifi'ener flange and these tacks are likely to be uplifted in the process. The deficiencies left by reason of these conditions ithas heretofore been necessary to devise special means to repair.

The object of this invention is to remedy these difiiculties, and I with this in View I have devised a method of manipulating the materials of the shoe in sucha waythat the welt sewing may be effected easily and accurate-1y and a better product secured. An important step in this method consists in marking the point for the beginning or the end of the welt attaching seam, or preferably both these points at the same distance from the heel end face of the shoe, this marking preferably taking the form of a slit or cut into the face of the overlaid upper materials at the heel seat. This cut preferably, but not necessarily, will be extended through the upper and the flange of the heel stiffener. For the best results these cuts will be located immediately in front of the front heel seat tadk on each side of. the shoe a. measured distance inwardly from the edge of the shoe and will disconnect the portion of the upper and the stifiener flange which is or is to befastened down by the are to be lasted up against the lip or shoulder of the innersole. This enables both poi tions of the flange to be better lasted in place :1 ndcliminates liability of loosening the heel seat tacks while sewing the welt. As a further step I contemplate shaping the severed ends of the stiffener flange together with the upper against the lip or rib of the innersole, creasing these materials with a rubbing action lengthwise of the shoe into the angle formed at the junction of the channel lip and the feather of the innersole. As a result of these operations the sewing may be effected both accurately and easily, since the limits of the inseam are definitely marked and the shoe may be presented readily for the first stitch at the desired point close to the heel seat tack and close to the base of the lip or rib. The seam also may be continued to the desired point close to the heel seat tack on the side of the shoe where the sewing is finished, since the channel guide of the welt sewing machine, which is located in advance of the needle, may pass through the slit and over that portion of the material that has been tackeddown, whereas formerly it was, stopped and the machine couldsew no farther when the channel guide encountered the tacked downmaterial.

The invention will be understood best by reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate successive steps in one manner of ,making a shoe by my improved method and show fragmentarily portions of one form of mechanism by which the method may be practised.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a preliminary stage of the operation before the slits have been made in the upper materials, and showing fragmentarily portions of an apparatus by which the method may be carried out; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a later stage of the operation, after the slits have been made, with the upper materials in the rear of the slits flattened down to form the heel seat and the portions in front thereof creased into the angle of the channel lip and the feather of the innersole; Fig. 3 indicates the manner of effecting the welt sewing-on operation on a shoe made by my improved method; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing fragmentarily but more completely than Figs. 1 and 2 portions of heel lasting apparatus with mechanism applied thereto for operating upon the shoe materials in accordance with my method.

For a complete understanding of the preferred form of apparatus for carrying out the method my co-pending application above referred to may be consulted. In the accompanying drawings only such portions of mechanism are shown as are necessary to illustrate the essential features of operation, and it should be understood that the method is not dependent upon the use of this or any particular apparatus but may be given effect in various ways.

The apparatus shown may constitute a portion of a lasting machine of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,018,477, granted Feb. 27, 1912 on the application of Matthias Brock. It will be understood that the heel embracing band 1 is mounted upon the heel lasting head of such a machine, and is operated to clamp the side portions of the upper materials about the heel end of the last, as shown in Figs. 1- and 2. The front ends of this band have closing connections 2 pivoted to slide bars 3 which are attached by links 4 to a cross-head 5 of a plunger 6 that is operated yieldingly through a spring '7 to clamp the upper as described. It is to be understood that while Fig. 1 shows only one side of the machine in detail, the mechanism is duplicated upon the opposite side. Heel lasting plates or wipers 8 also are mounted upon the lasting head and guided for advancing and closing movements to fold the upper materials inwardly over the edge of the shoe and lay them down for the heel seat. These wipers, or the camplates 9 by which they are carried, are connected by links 10 to a cross-head 11 of a plunger 12 which is connected at its rear end to an operating lever 13 which has a fulcrum link connection 14- to the head. The heel band is closled first and the wipers then are operate Upon the upper face of the band at its two ends are attached plates 15 in which are cam slots 16 that receive guide studs 17 depending from the auxiliary lasting devices or flange shapers 18 the rearwardly extending operating arms of which are pivotally connected to the end portions of the heel wipers 8.

The heel band, when it closes, brings the flange shapers into position at the edge of the shoe, and the wipers 8, when they advance and close, force the flange shapers forwardly in an inwardly directed course determined by the slots 16.

The heel band closing slide bars 3 are extended warwardly and connected to the in turned ends of slides 19 which move in suitable guides on the machine and at their front ends have cam slots 20 that receive studs on the rear ends of levers 21. These levers, it will be understood. are fulcrumed lever 28 fulcrumed on the machine head by 1-30 the pivot 30, and on their rear arms have rolls 31 in the path of cam plates 32 on a.

cross bar 33 operated by a plunger 34 which is connected at its rear end to the wiper operating lever 13,

It should be understood that the blocks 24 are connected to the slides 23in sucha manner as to permit the knife carrying ends of the levers 25 to be adjusted backward or forward, by means not herein shown, to brin the knives in proper position. to suit the size of shoe.

In 0 crating upon a shoe by my improved method by the aid of the mechanism above described, assuming that the knife levers have been properly, adj usted,-the shoe cornprisin'g the'up er 35, heel stiffener 36, and innersolc 37 with its rib 38 1s jacked upon the support and the heel band closed about it in the usual manner. The advance movemeiit of the slide Bars 3 in eli'ecting the closing of the heel band carries forwardly the slides 19 and turns the levers 21 to move the blocks 23 and 24 and the knife levers 25 inwardly in accordance with the width of the shoe. The length of the lever arms and the shape of the cam slots in the ends of the 19 are such that the knives are moved from a position outs'de the contour of the band first rapidi in an inward direction until they are inside the band, and then in proportion to the closing movement of the band ends until they are over the shoe as, shown in Fig. 1, in position to make the cuts from a point removed from the shoe edge about the width of the feather of the innersole to a point far enough. in to slit the heel stifi'ener flange to its edge. The advance of the wiper; operating lever 13 at once serves tooperate the cross bar 33 and move the cams on the cam plates 32 under the rolls 31 on the lovers 28, and thereby causes said levers to depress in omentarily the knife levers 25, so as to force the cutters through the flange of the upper and heel stifi'ener, and then to release them, after which the knife levers are raised by their springs out of the path oi the advancing wipers, in case the wipers extend as far in forward as the cutters. After the completion of the inward movement of the Wipers, the latter are backed of! slightly and tacks are driven to secure the upper materials to the insole upon the heel seat. On 55 the return stroke or retraction of the wiper operating lever 13 the cams again serve to throw do wn the knife levers 25, and if the first cut failed to go deep enough the second 1 will complete the incision. The second stroke also insures cutting through portions of the overwiped upper that may not have been in position to be cut properly on the first stroke of the knives. The advance of the wipers also serves to advance and turn 06 the flange creasers 18 as shown in Fig. 2,

and causes them to rub forwardly for shaping the upper and the stiffener flange in ad- Vance of the cuts against the feather end upstanding lip of the innersole. 011 the retraction of the wipers another stroke of the creasers is effected.

While the crcasers hold the flange bent and crowded into place, as shown in Fig. 2, a lasting tack may be driven if necessary to fasten the flange down where it is to be sewn. This operation prepares the shoe for sewing, with the upper and the stiffener flange lasted in where they belong, so that they can be sewed down against the baseof the channel lip or rib at and near the car ends of the seam as readily and erfectly as at any other part of the shoe. 'l he manner of effecting the sewing operation with the sewing machine is indicated in Fig. 3, where the channel guide 39 is seen moving out above the tacked down portion of the upper materials on the heel seat to permit the needie to advance freely to the very end of the seam.

Although the operation of rubbing longitudinally and creasing the edge of the upper in front of the heel seat is described with reference to the illustrative machine as a step of themethod that includes preferably slitting the edges of the upper, it will be reco ized that the novel creasing operation has istinct advantages without reference to the formation of the slits, and that in the broader aspects of the invention the novel creasing step may or may not be carried out in connection with the step of slitting the edge of the materials.

It has heretofore been proposed to operate upon a channeled innersole before it has been incorporated in the shoe and before the 1 channel lip has been turned up, by cutting down through the channel lip at the rear end of that portion which is to be turned up. The present invention is to be clearly distinguished from such a process in that it contemplates an operation on an assembled shoe the inner sole of which may or may not have been prepared in the above manner.

By the present method a cut is made through the upfper materials, including the heel stiffener ange, and only incidentally, if at all, affects the innersole. The cuts made in the upper materials by my method begin at a distance from the edge of the shoe where the cuts made by the prior operation would terurinate, although the cuts made in the innersole by the prior method are covered by the overlasted flanges of the upper and heel stiffener in the lasted shoe. By the present method I preferably locate the cuts at a measured distance inwardly from the shoe edge which corresponds to the width of the channel lip or the feather of the innersole;

It should be understood thatalthough the illustrative machine reveals the steps of the method as performed in a certain sequence, the invention is not thus restricted 1n its up plication, since obviously it is immaterial to the practice of the method in what precise order some of the operations are carrled out,

except as the. order may be particularly de-' making Welt shoes which consists in positioning upper materials upon a last, lasting the upper materials over the innersole to form the heel seat, and after the upper materials have been positioned on the last forming said materials to provide at a measured distance from the heel end face of the shoe an abrupt edge in a position to indicate the location for an end of the welt attaching seam.

2. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in lasting the upper materials over the innersole to form the heel seat, and making through said materials at each side of the heel seat at a measured distance from the heel end face of the shoe a slit which will indicate the position for and facilitate the formation of the ends of the welt attaching seam.

3. That improvement in methods of making Welt shoes which consists in positioning upper materials upon a last, lasting the upper materials over the innersole to form the heel seat, and after the upper n'iaterials have been positioned on the last making a slit in said materials on the heel seat extending inward from a point determined by reference to the lateral surface of the lastand located a substantial distance inside the shoe edge and adjacent to the point for beginning or ending the welt attaching seam.

+l. That improvement in methods of making Welt shoes which consists in clamp-' ing the upper materials upon the lateral surface of the heel portion of a last in adjusted relation to the plane of the heel seat to afford the desired width of flange for lasting over the edge of the last upon the heel seat, and after the upper materials have been thus clamped upon the last, making slits in the bottom edges of said materials at points determined by reference to the ed e of the last bottom and the rear end face 0 the last.

5. That improvement in methods of making Welt shoes which consists in clamping the upper materials upon the lateral surface ofa last in adjusted relation to the plane of the heel seat to afford the desired Width of flange for lasting over the edge of the last upon the heel seat, bending the bottom edge portion of said materials inwardly.

over the edge of the rear portion of the last bottom, and then making slits in said bent over materials at a measured distance from the rear end face of the shoe in locations determined by reference to the lateral surface of the last and extending inwardly from points located a substantial distance inside the edge of the last bottom.

6. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in positionin upon a last shoe materials comprising a we t innersole, an upper and a heel stiffener, making a slit tllI'Olfigh the upper and the flange of the heel sti ener at the location for the division line between the heel seat which is to be tacked. andthe inseam which is to be sewed, lasting down uponthe heel seat the upper materials including the stiffener fir. ige in the rear of the slit, and lasting up against the lip of the innersole said materials in advanoe of the slit.

7. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in positioning upon a last an upper and a heel stiffener together with an innersole having a Welt attaching lip or rib and a feather edge, making through the upper and the flange of the heel stiffener a slit extending from the inner edge of said flange to the feather of the innersole and located at the division line between the heel seat which is to be tacked and the inseam which is to be sewed, lasting down upon the heel seat the upper materials including the stifiener flange in the rear of the slit, and creasing the upper materials including the flange of the forwardly extending wing ortions of the sti'lfener in advance of the sit into the angle between the feather and the lip or rib of the ,innersole.

8. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in positioning upper materials upon a last, and after the upper materials have been positioned on the last forming a split in the marginal portion of said materials at or near the location for an end of the Welt attaching seam, lasting the marginal portion in the rear of said 'slit down upon the face of the innersole and tacking it down close to theslit lasting the marginal portion in front of said slit into upright position against the lip or r ib of the inncrsole and sewing the latter portion and the welt against the upright face of said lip or rib from the slit forwardly.

9. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in positioning upon a last upper materials including a heel stilfener, and after said materials have been positioned upon the last forming a slit at each side of the shoe through the stiflener flange from its edge substantially to the outer face of the channel lip of the innersole at the location for the inseam ends, turning the stiffener flange in advance of said slits up against the outer face' of the channel lip, lasting and tacking down upon the heel seat the upper in the rear of said slits, and using the slits as gage points from which to start and at which to end the inseam.

l0. That improvement in methods of preparing a shoe for the welt sewing-on operation which consists in clamping the upper materials including a heel stiffener against the side faces of the last at the heel breast, and slitting down through the -marginal portion of the upper andheelstiffener at the side of the shoe at which the inseam is to be completed to sever the marginal por tion which is to be up against the channel lip or rib, sewed from the portion which is to lie Halupon the heel seat and thereby form a'passage way through said marginal portions for the channel guide of the Welt sewing machine.

11. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in securing shoe stock in position ona last, and then shaping said stock on the last bottom to form a surface irregularity on thestock, at a location determined. with refeiielnce to an end face of the last to guide the operator in subse- (111116111; operations in the manufacture of the 5 0e.

That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in positioning upon a last shoe materials including a. Welt innersole and an up er, lasting the edges of the rear portionso the upper down upon the heel seat, turning the edges of the upper in front of the heel seat up against the channel lip or rib of the innersole, and after the materials are positioned upon the last forming said materials to provide a surface irregularity visible on said turned up edge portion of the upper at a point determined with reference to the rear end face of the last to indicate to the operator where to begin or end the inseam in the welt sewing operation.

13. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which consists in positioning 'upon a last shoe materials including a welt PEARL J. WENTWVORTH.

Witnesses:

HOWARD 0. w msnow, HARLOW M. DAVIS.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 0! Patents, Washington, D. 0.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,138,585, granted May 4, 1915, upon the application of Pearl J. Wentworth, of Boston, Massachusetts for an improvement in Methods for Use in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 4,

line 107, claim 8, for the Word split read slit; page 5, line 13 claim 10, before the word up insert the Word sewed; same page and claim, line 14, strike out the word sewed; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 1st day of February, A. D., 1916.

[SEAL] J. T. NEWTON,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. Cl. 12-145 

